Parents sue School District 30 over 11-year-olds' deaths
The parents of two boys who died of exposure and alcohol toxicity last February filed suit last week against Ronan School District 30, alleging the district was negligent and could have prevented the boys' deaths.
The parents are seeking $4 million in damages for both their and the boys' pain and suffering, loss of income, burial expenses, and other factors.
Eleven-year-olds Justin Benoist and Frank iFrankiei Nicolai III were reported missing on Friday, Feb. 27, and were found dead in a field about one-half mile southeast of Ronan on Monday, March 1. Benoist's death was caused by hypothermia with alcohol toxicity listed as a contributing factor, while Nicolai died of severe alcohol toxicity, according to results from the state crime lab in Missoula.
Nicolai's blood alcohol content was .50; Benoist's was .20. A BAC of .40 is considered enough to be fatal. The boys' bodies were found about 100 yards apart in a snow-covered field.
According to the lawsuit filed in Lake County District Court last Thursday, a isubstantial cause of death of the children was negligence and institutional failure by the school in failing to follow its policy and protect and safeguard children that were entrusted to their care.i
The suit alleges that the boys told other students they were iplanning to leave school early (be truant) to go drink alcohol,i and that the boys idid leave school early and were seen leaving school early by officials and/or representatives of the school.i
The suit does not name the school officials who allegedly saw the boys leave early. It says the boys were transported by bus to the Pablo School on Feb. 27, although both were students at Ronan Middle School.
The suit also says the iSchool District also has some institutional bias and discrimination inherent in its organization, by virtue of its failure to properly hire, employ Indian people, and Indians sympathetic to the problem of alcoholism Oe in the school, among children, and on the reservation.i
Both boys were members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The suit was filed on behalf of Benoist's mother, Norma Fox, and Nicolai's parents, Frank Nicolai and Arlene Powell.
Lake County Sheriff's detective Jay Doyle said the sheriff's department is still investigating the possibility that adults purchased the alcohol for the boys. If found, those adults could be held responsible for the boys' deaths, he said.
iAt this point, we still feel there was an adult that purchased the alcohol, but we have not charged anyone yet,i Doyle said. iHowever, those charges could come in the future.i
Doyle said detectives looked into rumors that the boys were at a party Friday night, but those rumors proved to be unfounded.
iAs far as we can tell, they were not at a party that night. We talked to various witnesses who did tell us that they (the boys) were at the Pache Homesites that night,i Doyle said.
The issue of alcohol abuse and availability could prove to be a central part of the suit, both for the plaintiffs and the defendants. The suit says iThere has been at least one prior death related to alcohol abuse by minor children in this community. The Defendant (Ronan School District 30) was on notice of this problem.i
On Nov. 28, 2003, a mobile home fire in Pablo claimed the life of 14-year-old Tyler Benoist, Justin's brother. At the time, Lake County Undersheriff and Coroner Mike Sargeant said the cause of death was smoke inhalation, but that Tyler Benoist had a BAC of .23, more than double the legal limit for adults.
Ronan Superintendent Andy Holmlund and plaintiff's attorney Patrick Flaherty did not return calls seeking comment.
Separately, the state's Commission on Practice ordered Flaherty to begin serving a 90-day suspension from practicing law in Montana due to a conflict-of-interest violation in an unrelated case, according to court documents filed with the lawsuit. His suspension began yesterday (Nov. 10).
The parents have requested that the case be tried in front of a jury.